Two former party presidents have a point to prove in Khandwa, BJP senses anti-incumbency

The real shadow-fight is between Chauhan, the long-time BJP MP from Khandwa, and Yadav, the former Congress MP from this seat.

Rival state presidents of their respective parties till a few months ago in Madhya Pradesh, Nand Kumar Chauhan of BJP and Arun Yadav of Congress have a point to prove in these elections. They want to deliver four seats of their home district, Khandwa, for their respective party.

All these four seats are held by the BJP, two since 1990. The Omkareshwar Temple, the second Jyotirlinga in the state after Ujjain, is a matter of great religious pride in Khandwa. Ram Das, 75, has spent much of his life in this temple town which falls under Mandhata seat, the only general seat of the four in Khandwa and one that the BJP has held for a decade as well.

“
Narmada aur BJP – donon yahan sthapit hain (Narmada and BJP, both are established here),” Ram Das says, referring to the river that encircles the Mandhata island where the Omkareshwar temple is located.

But rampant unemployment and poor infrastructure, despite it being a big religious centre, is giving Congress fresh hope.

“We have two dams but no water in the fields for farmers. The thermal plant here has not considered locals for jobs. Farmers have not got their crop insurance claims,” Narayan Patel, Congress candidate from Mandhata, told ET.

He lost narrowly by 4227 votes in 2014. Sensing anger, BJP has dropped its sitting MLA in Mandhata, fielding someone who lost from here in 2003. Congress has declared candidates on all Khandwa seats but BJP is still to declare candidates on two seats, tentative in the face of a strong anti-incumbency mood.

The real shadow-fight is however between Chauhan, the long-time BJP MP from Khandwa, and Yadav, the former Congress MP from this seat. Yadav defeated Chauhan from Khandwa Lok Sabha seat in 2009 before Chauhan beat him in 2014.

Both were removed as state presidents by their parties earlier this year and have a point to prove to their party leaderships in delivering Khandwa’s seats for their parties. Rahul Gandhi did a public rally in neighbouring Khargone last week which was organised by Yadav.

“Mandhata is dominated by Rajput voters and our candidate is from same community. Caste and religion factor is in our favour on this sole general seat in Khandwa. A government-run lodge is being built on the demand of pilgrims near Omkareshwar temple at fast speed,” a BJP leader explained the reason he believes his party has an edge.

Two other seats, Harsud and Khandwa City have a 6-time BJP MLA and a three-time BJP MLA respectively. Both have been given tickets again by the party. Congress has fielded a Koruk tribal, Sukhram Salve, from Harsud, a seat with high number of Koruk voters. Winning seats in Khandwa, a religious centre of the state, could act as a shot in the arm for the Congress here.